Posted on 04/18/2003 2:50:35 AM PDT by WaterDragon
n an extraordinary measure, Ontario health officials yesterday asked anyone who has even one symptom of SARS to stay home for a few days out of fear that anyone developing the respiratory disease might spread it during the Easter holiday weekend.
"We are asking for a level of people staying home that is quite unprecedented," said Dr. James Young, Ontario's commissioner of public safety.
The request is aimed at people who develop any of six symptoms of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome: severe headache, severe fatigue, muscle aches and pains, fever of 100.4 Fahrenheit or higher, dry cough and shortness of breath. The request excludes people who have had cough or shortness of breath from pre-existing allergies or lung disease.
The health department made its plea to the public in full-page newspaper advertisements and in news conferences. Ontario's health minister, Tony Clement, said, "This is a time when the needs of a community outweigh those of a single person."
Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University who also works at the Tennessee Health Department, said that Ontario's "measure seems to be a most extraordinary response" to the SARS epidemic.
Canada, particularly the Toronto area, is the hardest hit country outside Asia in the SARS epidemic, which is thought to have begun in November in southern China.
As of yesterday, 27 countries and Hong Kong have reported a total of 3,389 cases. The number of cases in the United States was sharply reduced yesterday, to 35, from 208, when federal health officials, as expected, adopted the World Health Organization's stricter definition of probable SARS cases.
Worldwide, SARS is blamed for 165 deaths, for a death rate of 4.9 percent, the W.H.O. reported.
But for unknown reasons, the death rate in Canada is about double; 12 of the country's 126 cases have been fatal, a death rate of 9.5 percent.
Because the initial symptoms of SARS resemble those of other respiratory infections, "we simply have to protect the community and keep people out of the community while they might be infectious and spreading SARS," Dr. Young said.
If people have any of the symptoms, Dr. Young said, "they should not be out in the community, they should not be going to work, they should not be going to church, they should not be going to family and friends over the weekend."
People with any of the symptoms were advised to stay home and wait to see what develops over the next day or few days. If symptoms persist, they were told to call the province's health information line (1-888-668-4636 or 1-866-797-0000).
Ontario officials said they could not cite any studies to help them estimate how many people might have any of the symptoms.
After consulting with health officials, the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches are advising worshipers to suspend sharing communion wine and to replace handshakes, hugs and kisses with bows and smiles. People are being asked to disinfect their hands immediately after touching religious icons or holy water.
Canadian health officials said that all the cases in the Toronto area could be traced back to an outbreak at Scarborough Grace Hospital, and they said that SARS was under control, in part because of their isolation policy. The outbreak in Toronto is now in its fourth generation of cases, increasing the complexity of tracing cases. About 7,000 people in the Toronto area had already been asked to stay in isolation since the outbreak began in March, and about 650 remain in isolation.
For those who have broken isolation, health officials have taken stringent measures. They put a police guard on one patient at a hospital and have hired private security investigators to check on people in isolation. They have made telephone calls and visited homes to ensure compliance. They are also considering the use of electronic tracking bracelets to monitor people ordered into isolation.
"We are still concerned that we are at a very, very critical time" in the course of the SARS epidemic, Dr. Young said.
Dr. Andrew E. Simor, chief of microbiology at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, said doctors were concerned about cracks in the wall of protection they had sought to build....(snip)
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But what a contrast with how AIDS has been dealt with. No quarantine. In fact, there's almost an insistence that those engaging in activities known to spread AIDS have civil rights to continue, regardless of the risks to the wider populations.
But for unknown reasons, the death rate in Canada is about double; 12 of the country's 126 cases have been fatal, a death rate of 9.5 percent. * * *
If WHO is correct and another 200 people in China have died that would be a total of 326 dead world-wide. The death rate is a lot higher than the < 4.1% that has been thrown about like the 'truth.'
I bet it true death rate is about 8%
China has a lot of explaining to do.
What's your point? My road atlas shows that it is 88 miles to Niagra Falls. From there to Buffalo NY 21 miles. Are we supposed to take comfort that it is as close or closer to a U.S. city? In addition, if this thing gets worse in Toronto a short hop on a plane will land an infected traveler anywhere in the U.S or Canada. And [my apologies if I am getting shrill] I take at least a couple of dozen trips a year via auto that are at least two two hours in duration. From that I conclude that a couple of hours via car isn't much of a barrier unless the authorities plan on quarantining Toronto ... and at that they would need to act soon enough.
Will SARS infections continue to expand? I do not know. Can anyone take much comfort in geographic isolation. Maybe if he liked in Nome.
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